I wanted to take a brief moment to introduce myself as the new owner of BAK, and give my sincerest gratitude on behalf of the entire kiting community to Oliver for creating this invaluable resource. His efforts, knowledge, and passion for the sport became even more apparent when we recently transferred the user handle BayAreaKite, and OliverG became the author of 5,261 posts, or over 6% of the entire forum-thank you! Having moved down here a couple years ago from Seattle, and as the case was for many of you, these forum posts helped me become acquainted with the most amazing kite spots we are all so fortunate to enjoy. The community has proven to be equally special, and the primary purpose of this forum will be to continue to serve this community.

Evolution of the forum will be very slow over the coming months as I become familiar with the technicalities and further develop the various ideas, goals, and objectives Oliver and I have discussed over coffee. They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it... and I think that statement is very applicable to this website. That being said, we do live in the Bay Area and there have been exciting advancements in technology since its inception over 10 years ago; I do hope to bring some exciting and welcome additions to the forum while maintaining the sense of community and uniqueness we all appreciate.

A job brought me down here, but kiting has kept me. I look forward to continue meeting you all on the various beaches, in parking lots, or out on the water giving the universal sign for stoke. Thanks in advance for your support, and stay tuned!

Sincerely,Kyle Lobisser

Last edited by BayAreaKite on Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Isn't it strange seeing a different person posting from the "BayAreaKite" handle? We've all come to expect Ollie's calm, knowing and experienced voice under that user name.

I wouldn't be involved in the kiting community in the same way had it not been for Ollie and the Bay Area Kiteboarding forum. From introductions to riders, equipment manufacturers and hanging out with Ollie, I've come to know him as an incredibly solid, humble and easy-going guy. We're all in his debt for creating this forum - THANK YOU Ollie!

Ollie introduced me to Kyle recently and I'm happy to say I think BAK is in good hands. For one thing, Kyle is crazy enough to want me to continue moderating/managing activations for new users and Ollie still wants to remain involved, at least for the foreseeable future. As Kyle mentions above, there aren't any radical changes planned, and given BAK is working well, why break anything?

I'd like to give a big welcome to Kyle as the new admin and owner of the site. It's been a long road for me dating back to when I started kiting, first registered bayareakiteboarding.com in 2003, launched a static site which was quickly followed by a forum-based format. Personally I feel I've achieved everything I had set out to do and much, much more. The sport, and the site, has enriched my life with friends, travel, sharing, learning and community. I thank you all for all of your support throughout the years, the site would be amount to little without the continued involvement and participation in the community.

We're lucky to have found someone with the insight and vision to keep available the wealth of information found here and to continue to serve our community. Many thanks to Kirk as well for his continued help on the forum over the last year+.

Kyle has my full support, it's clear to me his motivations are pure as is his passion for the sport. I'll continue to participate on the forum and (when the weather gets warmer and west winds return!) will continue to kite but in the meantime I'm on hand to make sure the transition is smooth and I can provide whatever assistance is needed. We're lucky to have this resource and I'm looking forward to its continued benefit to all.